


The Peacock Knight

by Chrystallene



Category: Genshin Impact - Fandom
Genre: Alcohol, GI OC, Gay Male Character, Gen, Genshin Impact OC, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Mentioned Jean (Genshin Impact), Mutual Pining, OC, OC X CANON, OC/Canon, Original Character - Freeform, Pining, SFW Genshin Impact, genshin oc, kaeya/oc - Freeform, knight of favonius, lgbtq oc, mlm, oc canon, sfw, xoc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28898460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystallene/pseuds/Chrystallene
Summary: Justus Rose, a Knight of Favonius has been hiding a secret for quite some time - He's got feelings for the Cavalry Captain. Despite his own hang ups, he decides to accept an invitation to drinks after work with a few of the Knights, and begins to challenge his fears about letting his true self out.As the days pass, Justus finds himself falling in love, and revealing his true self to the Captain.Will Justus ever figure out the Cavalry Captain's mysterious past?(A short story which has developed into something longer than I intended! This is my first multi-chapter story!)
Relationships: Kaeya (Genshin Impact) & Original Male Character(s), kaeya/oc
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I usually don't write OC/Canon stories, but wanted to try this out! Justus Rose is my Knight of Favonius oc. Here is some information about him!
> 
> Born as the eldest son to his parents, Justus has always been the model child for his younger sisters. Despite Josette being only a year younger than him, Justus has always taken it upon himself to protect and look out for her.
> 
> Justus is stoic and quiet compared to his sisters, usually choosing to keep most of his emotions hidden or subtle. He’s quite good at keeping his feelings to himself, which makes him an exemplary candidate for the Knights of Favonius.
> 
> At age 16, Justus was blessed by the Gods with a Vision, which he assumes was gifted to him because of how chivalrous and protective he is of others. His Vision allows him to manipulate water and bend it to his will. He wears the Vision around his neck, attached to his armour. Justus only uses his ‘powers’ for good and to protect others.
> 
> Justus has a scar on his right cheek. He got this while in a fight, but doesn’t speak much of it as it’s typically concealed by his helmet. Justus is quite tall, standing six-feet, with blonde hair that falls past his waist. He’ll often dye the ends of it an ombre blue to represent the element he controls.
> 
> Although he keeps details of his personal life to himself, Justus identifies as gay, and is out with this information. However, he doesn’t typically date, as he feels it would put him at a disadvantage for his work. Because of this, if he has feelings for someone, he generally reacts with an air of annoyance, and doesn’t allow them to show to just anyone.

Justus furrowed his brows.

Icy gaze was quick to turn to the window, sigh escaping his lips. The rain that fell outside the Knight's headquarters seemed endless- for days it had continued to storm, and despite being gifted with the ability to bend water as he wished, it eventually grew tiresome. He longed for the smallest sliver of sunshine, anything to perk up the dreary Mondstadt landscape.

Hands folded carefully on top of the book he'd been idly reading, a guide on laws in Mondstadt as a refresher before the annual testing that was quickly approaching. Despite being a liaison between Liyue and Mondstadt, Justus was still being forced to take the same test he'd been taking since he was just a recruit. It was almost as tiresome as the rain outside, but he did his best to study the content- even if he'd been bored to tears because of it.

The Knight's headquarters were so quiet these days, with the rain, and a lot of the Knights off studying, Justus had barely seen anyone aside from his sister, Josette. Even Evelyn was safe at home, carefully studying the materials after being given special permission from the Acting Grand Master, herself. Evelyn wasn't always great under pressure, and Jean had high hopes for Evelyn's abilities despite this. She wanted to ensure the best test scores possible for his little sister.

Brows knit together as his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knuckles tapping against the doorframe. There were only two people he could think of that would bother him during such an important time: his sister… Or the Cavalry Captain himself. Justus hoped it was the former- he didn't really have it in him to deal with the Captain's antics today. 

The Cavalry Captain, or Kaeya, was someone that Justus couldn’t quite figure out. He'd tried and tried to get straight answers out of the man, but he'd been met with the same things he told everyone- little white lies, or in worst case scenarios, straight fabrications of the truth. Frankly, this pissed Justus off, so much so that his quiet "come in" almost sounded more annoyed than friendly. Justus couldn’t understand why it was so hard for this man to open up about literally anything, and to make matters worse, he'd been battling feelings for him since he was a recruit.

But Justus knew there was nothing he could do about Kaeya's behaviour, and as much as he wanted to try to help him, he didn't feel confident in his abilities to do anything. Justus still felt like a stranger to this person he'd known for a good portion of his life.

A bright smile was pasted across the dark-haired man that casually strolled through the office. He watched as he made his way over to the desk, pressing his palms into the wooden edge and leaning into Justus' workspace. 

Justus could feel his face heat up despite his annoyance at being disturbed and the invasion of personal space. His thoughts were invaded with silly nothings- the way his features pulled into a mischievous smirk, the intoxicating smell of cologne on his clothes, how close they were to one another... 

He swallowed the urge to ask him to take his hands off the desk. Instead, Justus lifted his head to stare at Kaeya's face, rather than his torso and hopefully ignore the unhelpful thoughts in his mind.

Justus didn't return the smile, although the other man's expression was infectious. Seeing his features lit up in such a way almost forced Justus to smile, too, but he had a demeanor to uphold, and he wouldn't let just anyone see through his work self. Justus pursed his lips before finally speaking something to Kaeya.

"Did you need something?" Justus asked, lifting his hands from his book and gesturing at Kaeya's hands. "Or did you just want to dirty something for Noelle to clean?"

Justus watched as Kaeya's laughter was quick to fill the air, bringing a hand to his face to stifle the chuckles. He seemed to give a shake of his head before answering Justus' question. 

"What? No. A few of us are getting drinks in a couple of hours so they asked me to invite you." Kaeya straightened his posture, folding his arms across his chest as he stared at Justus who was still seated. 

Justus wasn’t sure how to answer. On one hand, it would be nice to get out of staying late at work. On the other? He didn't know if he could handle himself properly with alcohol in his system around Kaeya. He didn't want to slip up and let his feelings show, or have anything else happen for that matter. He knew Kaeya could be _outgoing_ for lack of a better word, and he didn't want to end up doing something out of line for his character and show weakness.

Justus allowed himself to stand from where he was sitting, hands finding his hips and resting them gently at his sides. Regardless of what his answer was, he needed to use the washroom, and he hoped standing up would give Kaeya the signal to leave him alone. 

A sigh was once again quick to escape him.

"Fine, I'll come. But I'm not going to drink." Justus said, shifting his weight to his other foot. Perhaps he seemed a little uncomfortable, but he didn't know how to respond, otherwise. He did drink, and liked to, as most people from Mondstadt did, but it was the prospect of not being his rigid self that scared him. 

Justus watched as Kaeya's lips pulled into a smirk, turning on his heel to leave the office Justus was borrowing. For a moment he paused, which caused Justus to wrinkle his nose. 

"I forgot my umbrella, so I'll walk with you." 

Were the words that the other man uttered before leaving Justus alone. Justus didn't bother saying anything back, just shrugged and after waiting what he thought was an appropriate amount of time, took off down the hallway for the washroom as he'd planned.

Thankfully, it wasn't too long before the sound of boots had disappeared into another office, and Justus was quick to slip into the bathroom undetected.

First, he made his way over to the mirror hanging above the sink. His features pulled into a scowl at the face that stared back at him. His face was still flushed, despite his attempts to keep himself calm, and his forehead was warm to the touch. How he could allow himself to be so invested in someone that barely showed him any attention other than to annoy him, Justus hadn't a clue. Hopefully, Kaeya wouldn't notice how flustered he could become by the other man's presence.

And what was this umbrella business all about? Could he not just borrow one from somebody? It was all so inconvenient- how was he supposed to avoid the Captain if he was expected to walk to the tavern with him? Perhaps he could fake sick… But on the other hand, it would go against his morals to lie, especially involving a lie so easily disproved. How would it make sense to come down with some illness in only a few hours?

Justus puffed out his cheeks, sticking his hands under the tap and carefully splashing water on his face. 

If he was going to go out after work, he had to at least make himself presentable.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter to start Kaeya and Justus' walk to the tavern. :) Next chapter will be more exciting!

The remainder of Justus' afternoon was spent pulling his waist length blonde hair into a perfectly coiffed braid, and painstakingly  _ worrying _ about the evening plans with his coworkers. 

He wasn't exactly thrilled to be going out anywhere, not to mention he was absolutely petrified of making a mistake in front of everybody- especially Kaeya. Justus always felt his personality had to be kept a certain way and he couldn't bear the repercussions should he slip up later.

He wrinkled his nose as he looked over himself once more. No longer in the washroom, he was now sitting back in the office, tiny mirror pulled from a bag he so often kept on his person. Truthfully, he thought he looked a mess, despite how long he'd spent taming his locks, his lips pressed together into what could almost be described as a scowl. How could he ever be…

_ How could I ever be what? _

Justus caught himself whispering things aloud, quickly slapping an un-gloved hand over his lips. An unfortunate habit of nervousness he dealt with. So many around him had confidence in all things, and so did Justus for the most part. Yet his appearance? Wasn't one of them. Oftentimes he didn't have time to even think about what he looked like, but when it came to spending time with the Captain? Justus found himself fretting over every strand of hair.

To make matters worse, Justus would have to go out in his armour- not that this wasn’t the norm for most Knights, but Justus much preferred to wear comfortable clothing when he was able to. His armour brought almost too much attention to himself, and while that was good while on the job as it allowed civilians to see him, when trying to blend in it only made things worse.

Teeth sunk into the flesh of his lip as he noticed the time. Surely Kaeya would be meeting up with him soon, and Justus hardly felt ready. His thoughts trailed back to the previous. 

_ How could he ever be good enough? _

How could he possibly be enough for Kaeya, especially when his feelings were already so out of hand. And he was so popular with everyone! Josette, Justus' sister, was bubbly and sweet, but the people-pleasing genes weren't in his blood. He was quiet and stoic- a good leader, but a horrible romantic with barely any experiences to speak of. He was absolutely certain he would mess up whatever could possibly come from this should anything happen at all.

Hand pinched the bridge of his nose, as his gaze met the door. The man who stood with his shoulder pressed into the frame thankfully ended his frazzled thoughts. Justus quickly realized he wasn't alone anymore, which surprisingly made him thankful he no longer would worry about such trivial things at least for the time being. 

"Oh!" Justus began, heeled boots clicking as he fetched his umbrella. "Sorry, I was so caught up in things I didn't see you there."

This was a blatant lie, and if Kaeya had been standing there for longer than ten seconds, he would know this. Thankfully, Justus was fairly certain he hadn't been, but he wasn't exactly in the mindset to know exactly what to say. Perfecting his speech typically wasn't his speciality.

Justus felt his ears burn, hearing the laughter of the other man who decided not to respond verbally otherwise. He only stood and watched as Justus picked up his umbrella by the curved handle, and made his way over to Kaeya.

Something that always surprised Justus was how tall he really was. Compared to the other Knights he was taller than most, even more so with the heels on his boots giving him extra height while armoured. He seemed to look down at the other Knight- not by much, but enough that he had to peer down at him to see his facial expressions. 

Truthfully, Justus found this to be cute, although he'd never admit it. He could never admit he thought his coworker to be anything that wasn't professional. Despite his intentions, however, he found his mind wandering to places that weren't professional once again, and forced any lingering thoughts out of his head.

This wasn't a date. This wasn't anything romantic, and it certainly wasn't going to be any fun. This was strictly to show face in front of his fellow Knights and to make him seem a little less stuck up.

Justus must have allowed himself to get lost in thought once again, as hand was quick to find itself on his forearm. Justus almost ripped his arm away at the touch, but thankfully he caught himself before he made any audible sounds of shock. Instead, he gently shook himself free, before offering an uncharacteristically bright smile to Kaeya. 

"Apologies, Captain." Justus began, gingerly swinging the umbrella in his hands, "I'm quite tired today. Let's go meet with the others?"

And once again, Kaeya was laughing. Justus watched as he gave a shake of his head, before softly shrugging his shoulders. "Ah, yes! Let's get going. I'm so thirsty, I'll surely drink the place dry!"

Justus couldn't catch himself this time- a soft sigh escaping his lips as he cautiously began walking towards the door. He probably looked like a fool, glancing back to make sure that Kaeya was still there, and that he wasn't walking too quickly, as much as he wanted to avoid the Knight. 

Much to his surprise, this only caused Kaeya to walk faster, allowing himself to walk only inches from Justus. Justus ignored the fact that any moment their arms could brush against eachother- he wasn't sure he could handle another mishap involving Kaeya touching him.

"What? Don't you like me?" The dark-haired Knight teased as he was finally able to match his pace with Justus'. "You'll have to stay closer than that if you want to keep me dry. Nothing's stopping me from getting a drink, even if it means I'll be sitting around the Angel's Share in my underwear!"

"Ugh, that's unsanitary." Justus replied. He could feel his face turn beet-red at the comment that he hadn't meant to allow to slip out. 

Justus was relieved to see they were already at the main foyer of the Knight's headquarters, carefully opening his umbrella with a swift motion. He was sure their feet would get wet, but at least they would stay somewhat dry until they reached the tavern. 

Kaeya seemed to ignore the comment that Justus had uttered, instead shoving himself entirely too close to an already flustered Justus. He couldn't quite understand what was going on here. Was he trying to be a pain? Probably. But why was he so adamant about being close? 

Could Kaeya see through his facade? Hopefully not, but with the Captain, Justus could never be too sure.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaeya shows Justus some pretty sparklies, and they FINALLY get to the Angel's Share.

"So! What's with the change in hairstyle?" Kaeya asked, gesturing to the braid that now hung down Justus' back. 

He'd almost forgotten his choice to pull back his hair, that was until he could hear the sound of his braid making soft thumps on the back of his armour. It seemed to be a peculiar question- why it even mattered that Justus had fixed his hair he'd never know, but a shrug of his shoulders seemed like an answer that would suffice. 

Perhaps this was Kaeya's way of making conversation, but Justus was still too preoccupied with the overly friendly nature of the other Knight to have much else to say. They were halfway to the tavern by this point, having walked too close for Justus' comfort in almost absolute silence until Kaeya had decided to ask about his hair.

Justus had hoped the rain would let up by now, but it seemed to only get harder, the drops making loud thuds on his umbrella. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kaeya looking around the streets, but he didn't seem to be looking for anyone in particular- he mostly seemed curious.

It only took mere moments before he piped up again.

"Hey, watch this!"

Stopping suddenly, Justus watched as Kaeya carefully lifted his hand to where Justus could see it. He hesitated for a moment, before a soft glow emerged from the vision that hung around his waist. Within a few seconds, Kaeya had somehow managed to turn some of the raindrops into tiny snowflakes that gently flitted down into the puddles below. 

Justus allowed himself to quirk a brow, watching the tiny flakes fall from his palms. He didn't have anything like that to show Kaeya, unfortunately having a Hydro vision wasn't as exciting as say, Cryo, for example. He'd seen other Hydro users make small rainbows among other pretty things, but Justus hadn't thought to learn anything so trivial. It wasn't that he couldn't appreciate the simplicity in using his abilities for show, but he couldn't allow himself to use them for anything that wasn't work related.

On the other hand, however, it might be fun to try to loosen up a little bit and learn some tricks to show people. Even the Cavalry Captain was able to do some flashy tricks with his Vision.

"That's beautiful!" Justus exclaimed, showing perhaps a little too much excitement in his words. He immediately regained his composure and added, "I can't say I know any party tricks- perhaps I'll have to teach myself."

His words were met with Kaeya sticking his tongue out at him, a playful gesture which Justus wasn’t expecting from such an esteemed Knight. However, Justus couldn’t say it was out of character for him, either. Kaeya seemed like he was a lot of fun to be around when he wasn’t busy reprimanding recruits for falling asleep on the job. In fact, Justus always thought that despite his status amongst the Knights, he was less on the intimidating side. While Jean was nice, Justus found something about her intimidating that he could never put his finger on. Perhaps it was merely the fact she was his superior, and she seemed to be so put together that was intimidating for Justus, but he still wasn't quite sure. Justus always felt messy, despite the persona he worked so hard to uphold.

"I can be fun!" Kaeya demanded, his tone playful yet mocking. "I can't always be expected to be so tough. Besides, sometimes, even on the job, I have to resort to softer tactics. I can't go around scaring  _ everyone _ , now can I?"

Justus couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips, only to quickly force himself to stop. It was already becoming increasingly difficult not to do something stupid I'm front of Kaeya, and Justus knew he was in too deep. He had to figure out a way to deal with these emotions- and fast.

Justus nodded his head, boots once again clicking 'cross the cobbled pathways of Mondstadt. He was pleased as Kaeya followed suit, especially due to the fact Justus didn't respond to him right away. 

Justus was too busy carefully constructing the right words to say in his head to have anything else to say, which he was almost certain Kaeya would tease him about later. Or maybe, if he was lucky, he wouldn’t say anything. It was hard to tell with Kaeya, while he joked around he hardly seemed to be the malicious type in situations where it wasn’t called for. Justus only hoped he’d know being teased about being quiet would absolutely mortify him. He knew if Josette was around she’d definitely say something to be “helpful”, but it would only make things worse.

In a now panicked attempt to talk, Justus finally decided to try to start another conversation, hopefully prompting Kaeya not to say anything once they got to the Angel’s Share about their awkward walk over. Thankfully, he could see the tavern in his vision, now, so he would be able to escape his one on one conversation soon enough. He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat before he allowed himself to ask a question of the Captain.

“So, if I  _ was  _ to order a drink, what would you suggest?” He asked, forcing himself to look to the Captain as he spoke. He could feel his cheeks heat up through his sentence, which made him return his gaze forwards once he was done speaking, feet still moving him forward despite feeling weak at the knees.

Out of the corner of his eye, Justus watched a smirk play across Kaeya’s features. 

“You want  _ my  _ opinion?” He chuckled, nose wrinkling with his laughter, “I probably have a better tolerance than you do- I’m not sure you want to listen to my advice.”

“O-oh.” Was all Justus managed to reply.

“Aha! I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Justus. I don’t know your private habits, of course.” Kaeya’s expression seemed almost as flustered as Justus had been the entire evening. “I’ll order something for you, if you hate it, at least you didn’t pay for it!” 

Justus could hardly comprehend what had been said to him, only able to hear that Kaeya had said  _ his name  _ rather than used a formal title with him. It took a moment to register that he had also offered to buy him a drink. 

_ Not in a romantic way.  _ He reminded himself.

“You don’t have to pay for it, I’ve got plenty of Mora, that’s very kind of you to offer, though! I trust you won’t pick something too strange for me.” Justus replied, offering him a soft smile. 

The conversation prompt of drinks had served them well, as they finally reached the Angel’s Share. Justus reached for the door handle, pulling it open, and pressing his back against it to hold it open for Kaeya to walk past him. Kaeya didn’t do this, however. He stood and waited for Justus to shake out his umbrella before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him inside like some excited puppy. 

“I’m not letting you out of my sight until you let me order and pay for a drink for you. I won’t take no for an answer!” Kaeya seemed loud and excited by this point, pulling Justus over to the bar and quickly dropping his hand, all before Justus had a chance to realize what was going on. 

Now quite frazzled, Justus offered the red-haired barkeep a sheepish grin, before taking a seat at the bar- which Kaeya had already poised himself at. He sat with his elbow propped on the bartop, chin resting in the palm of his hand.

“Hmm, gimme two glasses of dandelion wine please!” Kaeya told the man behind the bar- Justus was pretty sure his name was Diluc, but he hadn’t had many dealings with him. 

By the way he was acting, Justus assumed that Kaeya knew more about Diluc than perhaps Diluc wanted, but he wasn’t aware of any connection between the two. Old friends? Maybe, but their relationship seemed more than that. 

Diluc seemed to roll his eyes at the request but obliged, as Justus allowed his eyes to wander. The bar was still quite empty- nobody from work was there, yet, but Justus was sure at the very least Lisa would soon stop by.

For now, it seemed he had to spend a little more one on one time with the captain than he anticipated- and now there was alcohol involved.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justus and Kaeya talk about their families- hopefully this is starting to get more interesting. :)

Justus decided he'd attempt to make conversation with the bartender before he'd give Kaeya attention again. Carefully, Justus pulled off his gloves, and gave a soft wave to the red-haired gentleman, smile quickly finding its way to his features.

"Hello! It's Diluc, right? I feel silly for not knowing if it's obvious, but there could always be other red haired bartenders."

Diluc let out a sigh, pushing a glass of wine towards him as he nodded his head.

"Yes, Diluc. And I see you've met my  _ favourite  _ Knight of Favonius. What did he tell you to trick you into coming here?" His words were met with a smirk, although Justus couldn’t tell if his smile was genuine- the words he spoke previously seemed far too sarcastic to be anything but.

Justus wrinkled his nose, before gingerly wrapping his fingers around the stem of the glass. It felt odd to him, to be holding something so delicate. Justus usually only drank coffee or water. Such a pretty glass would never be found anywhere near his quarters. He’d been known to occasionally drink cheap beer with his sister, too, but never anything so formal. The times he had drank wine had been back home with his parents.

“Trick me?” Justus responded, eyes staring down at the glass he now held up to his face. “Sir Kaeya simply asked me to have drinks with everyone, nothing more. Although, truthfully, it seems he just needed someone to keep him dry- he claims to have forgotten his umbrella.”

A smile pulled at Justus’ lips as he took a drink of the wine. He’d of course drank wine before, so it was nothing new to him, but the flavour was surprisingly sweet. This particular type of wine despite being so popular in Mondstadt wasn’t one he’d tried before.

From beside him, he noticed Kaeya sticking his tongue out at Diluc, wine glass sitting in his hands. He seemed used to the banter from Diluc, soft laughter escaping him.

“With how cold you are, you’d think  _ you _ were the one with a cryo Vision, Diluc.” Kaeya quickly turned to face Justus, “Diluc and I go way back, although he doesn’t like to admit it. Doesn’t care much for his old Knight buddy.”

Justus nodded, taking another sip of wine. He felt almost intimidated by Kaeya sitting and staring directly at him, having swiveled in his chair to face him and Diluc. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure if this was because of their exchange, or because the other man’s eyes were boring icy holes into the side of his head when he wasn’t paying attention to him, but he did his best to act as casually as he could.

Justus wasn’t sure why Kaeya was so interested in his attention. Perhaps it was the nature of his relationship with Diluc causing awkwardness, but Justus finally turned his back on the bartender- if only to get Kaeya to stop looking at him in such a manner.

Besides! Diluc was  _ working _ . It wasn’t like he didn’t have other things to take care of, and as the minutes ticked by, more and more Knights (mostly ones Justus didn’t know on a personal level) made their way inside. Unfortunately, despite Mondstadt being such a quiet city, it didn’t go without its hushed secrets. Many of the Knights found solace in their nightly beverage of choice, some finding it necessary to get through their day to day traumas. Justus didn't experience as much of this first hand as he typically spent his time delivering correspondences to Liyue, but he had definitely heard the rumours.

"You have a sister, right?" Kaeya was quick to ask, the second Diluc looked away. "Or is it two… I can never keep who's related straight. So many hide their relations for whatever reason." 

Justus watched as Kaeya made a gesture to Diluc, and continued his thought.

"Diluc isn't my biological brother, but we were raised alongside one another for a period of time. We hung out a lot as kids, stuff like that." He gave a soft shrug, lowering his voice to a hush. "Maybe we'll be friends someday, but Diluc sure knows how to hold a grudge!"

Justus quirked a brow, gently placing his hands on his knees. He decided against prodding Kaeya for information about Diluc, instead beginning to talk about his own family.

“Two younger sisters, and an older brother, but I don’t really know much about him. He doesn’t live here anymore. I’m sure you know of Josette, and then there’s Evelyn.”

While Justus didn’t normally bring up Demetrius, he found no harm in a brief mentioning. He highly doubted that Kaeya would press further for information regarding him, and if he did, Justus would refuse to give it. His brother had been exiled so long ago to a place that was hardly relevant any longer: Khaenri’ah. He doubted Kaeya would even be more than briefly acquainted with the place, and it was just easier to not bring it up at all. Albedo was shunned enough for his dealings with the place, and Justus hardly wanted to deal with the same treatment because of his brother he hardly knew. 

And perhaps it was selfish of Justus not to show solace to Albedo by admitting the faults of his own family, but he always told himself he’d deal with these feelings later. Perhaps there would be a way he could quietly show his solidarity until he felt prepared to do something further.

Justus shook his head, getting once again lost in his thoughts. Luckily, he was brought back to reality quick enough to catch Kaeya’s response to his question.

"Oh, a brother? Is he single?!"

Kaeya’s laughter was quick to ring through the tavern, eyes pressed shut, hands gleefully clapped together. Even laughing as he was, Justus felt his stomach churn. Whether it was the wine, or how handsome Kaeya looked, Justus couldn't tell, but he forced himself to play along with the question asked of him.

"You wouldn't be interested. He's got a bad attitude." 

Justus furrowed his brows at the mention of his brother, making a vain attempt to hide his disappointment in the question. Despite the earlier reminder that he wasn't, nor should he, expect anything romantic from this, he was desperately hoping that  _ something _ could come from this. The wine was definitely messing with his thoughts, the atmosphere of the tavern making matters worse.

"Come now, how could someone with a brother like you have a bad attitude. You're Mister Chivalrous, aren't you?" A smile graced Kaeya's lips. "I'm sure you make your partner very happy!" 

_ His partner? _

Justus only blinked, bringing the glass to his lips for another sip of wine. He had absolutely no idea who Kaeya had been referring to, unless he was trying to press for information he wouldn't volunteer naturally.

"I don't have a partner- who are you talking about?" Justus allowed himself to laugh at this, his response sounding a little more bewildered than he'd intended. "I didn't think I was popular enough for there to be any rumours about who I've been spending my private time with."

At this, Kaeya only shook his head, flagging Diluc for another glass of wine. "Oh, nobody. I was only being nosy." Another smile tugged at Kaeya's lips- to which Justus noted he'd never seen the Captain so smiley before.

"I see. No. No partner, I'm too busy with work. The people of Mondstadt come first, of course." Justus forced himself to give an appropriate answer, rather than anything cheeky or flirtatious. He knew he had to reel it back in- things were getting too out of hand for his liking.

Kaeya's brow quirked.

"Hm, of course. The people of Mondstadt. Careers. Important. Blah blah blah."

"Don't you think so, Captain?" Justus asked, finishing his first glass of wine. He chose not to order another, head already spinning from just the one.

"Of course, but you can't be expected to not live a normal life just because of some code of honour or duty. Asking such a sacrifice of someone is completely irrational." Kaeya responded, wine glass perched in his fingers. He sat still for a moment, idly looking at the glass in his hands before his face brightened.

"Hm, let's play a game!"


End file.
